Play at Off the Wall to move from Carnegie to NYC festival

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Off the Wall productions debuts a new play this weekend by writer/actor Anne Stockton and director Austin Pendleton, then sends it on to New York in February as part of the Carnegie company's “This Fortnight is Female” one-woman play festival.

“I Won't Be in on Monday" revolves around Nikki who is in love and planning a South Pacific vacation when a detective arrives at the financial firm where she works. Nikki is suspected of stealing valuable rings from co-workers to finance her trip, and as new information is revealed, the story evolves into a whodunnit.

The Stockton-Pendelton team collaborated on another one-woman show with Off the Wall, “The Speed Queen” in 2012. Mr. Pendleton, a native of Warren, Ohio, is a Tony-nominated director who received the Drama Desk Special Award in 2007 as “a Renaissance man of the American theater.” Among his many screen roles, he was a recurring player on the HBO series “Oz” and NBC’s “Homicide: Life in the Streets.”

Ms. Stockton is actor/trainer for the New York City Police Department's Hostage Negotiation Team and Emergency Service Unit and a practicing psychiatrist. Her insights played a big role in the creation of the character of Nikki and the situations in “I Won't Be in on Monday.”